forthcoming books

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Cover reveals, forthcoming books, France, Publishers

Cover reveal of The Paris Cooking School!

Absolutely thrilling–my publisher has just revealed the gorgeous cover of my forthcoming adult novel The Paris Cooking School, written under my pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, and to be published by Ultimo Press in November. Isn’t it beautiful–and how about that perfect strawberry tart!

(Really love the way the book is described too: sumptuous, romantic, escapist. And delectable!)

Here’s the blurb:

Life doesn’t always serve up the perfect dish, but second chances are always on the menu

There’s nothing quite so beautiful as Paris in the spring; and when you add in the chance to learn the French way of food, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, who can resist? Not Gabi Picabea or Kate Evans who have come from Australia to Sylvie Morel’s Paris Cooking School.

Both are at a crossroads, and learning to cook the French way in Paris, far away from all their troubles, seems like the perfect escape. 

Still bruised from a shocking betrayal by her ex-husband, Kate is trying to find a new place for herself in life, and emotional peace, while French-Australian artist Gabi is struggling with a crippling creative block.

Meanwhile, Sylvie herself is facing challenges of her own – a mysterious harassment campaign against the School and a reassessment of her relationship with her commitment-shy lover Claude. 

For each of the women, that extraordinary April in Paris will bring unexpected twists and transformations that will change the course of their lives.

A delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart, The Paris Cooking School is a treat for the soul.

The Paris Cooking School will publish in November 2023. Pre-order from your local bookshop, or online, or via the Ultimo website, here.

Leave a comment Posted on Book talk, children's fiction, forthcoming books, historical fiction, Reviews

Fabulous first review for The Key to Rome!

The Key to Rome, my historical mystery novel for middle-grade readers set in Roman Britain, has just got its first review, one week ahead of official release, and it’s an excellent one! It’s reviewed by Heather Zubek in the West Australian. Here’s what she said:

A dying man’s promise, a mysterious key, and a dangerous journey in ancient times; The Key to Rome is a story that will keep you reading until way past your bedtime. Set in the Roman Province of Britannia in AD84, the story sees 12-year-old Livia keeping a promise to her dying father to deliver a key to her estranged uncle. Along her perilous journey, Livia meets Mato, a boy who needs to see his dying mother before it’s too late. Together the two travellers make their way through ancient lands where they learn that the key may hold a dreadful secret. Multi award-winning author Sophie Masson has created a thrilling historical adventure that not only excites but teaches us about the troubled times in which the story is set. For ages 9+.

A great start for the book–thank you, Heather!

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, Book talk, collaborations, Creative work, Fiction, forthcoming books, memoir, Pardalote Press

Advance copies of Secrets of the Good Fairy House!

It’s always exciting when you get those first advance copies of a new book–it’s a magic moment when you get to hold the real-life book in your hands! This week, copies of my new book with the wonderful illustrator Lorena Carrington, Secrets of the Good Fairy House, arrived at my place and to say I was delighted with how it looks is an understatement 🙂 It is truly gorgeous, in fact!

Here’s the blurb:

Secrets of the Good Fairy House is a unique exploration of how a beloved childhood house can grant not only a treasury of rich memories, but also spark imaginative childhood adventures, and future creative inspiration. Created by award-winning author Sophie Masson and acclaimed illustrator Lorena Carrington, this beautiful book is an interwoven mix of memoir and fiction in both text and images, taking you on a fascinating journey into a very special magic.

The book is published by our very own ‘tiny press’, Pardalote Press, and distributed nationwide through Peribo, so you can buy or order it from any bookshop. It will be officially out in June.

(by the way, the framed photo in the pic below is of the ‘good fairy house’ of my childhood in France, which was the inspiration for my part of the book)

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, Book talk, forthcoming books, historical fiction, middle grade fiction, trailers, Videos

Fabulous little trailer for The Key to Rome!

There’s a fabulous little trailer for The Key to Rome, my forthcoming middle-grade historical mystery novel, now up on the Christmas Press You Tube channel. The book’s coming out in May and I’m really looking forward to its release. It’s been many years in the making, ever since I found a Roman key-ring in a London antique shop. I’ve written a bit about it here but will write a bit more about it later. But today, do enjoy the trailer!

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Art, Book talk, Creative work, forthcoming books, Inspirations, memoir, Pardalote Press

Announcing the new Pardalote Press production!

I’m absolutely delighted to announce the forthcoming arrival of the new Pardalote Press production, my latest collaboration with the wonderful Lorena Carrington!

It’s a beautiful little book titled Secrets of the Good Fairy House, which will be out at the beginning of June and distributed nationally through our distributor Peribo. Below you can see the book’s gorgeous front and back covers which Lorena created, as well as the lovely page Peribo have for the book in their June catalogue.

Secrets of the Good Fairy House is a unique exploration in words and images of the magic a beloved childhood home can confer on people, through its sheer atmosphere and the objects in it too. Both in words and images, it’s a mix of memoir–about my childhood home in rural France and Lorena’s in regional Victoria–and fiction, to create what we hope will be an enticing, imaginative blend. Each page features a space or an object or an aspect of the good fairy house, and, as well,  there are interactive elements at the end: an encouragement to create memory maps(with ours as samples), ideas on how to use the ideas and concepts in the book to create your own exploration of your own ‘good fairy house’, and a maze game, for a bit of fun 🙂 We absolutely loved creating this unique little book, and we hope many readers will take it to their hearts too. It’s for a general audience, for adults as well as younger readers, and makes a great gift too.

Secrets of the Good Fairy House is a beautiful small square book of 48 pages, in full colour, retailing at $25.  The ISBN is 9780645563429. It will be available in all good bookshops across Australia, and can also be pre-ordered, via your local bookshop, or directly via our website.

Leave a comment Posted on Art, Book talk, Celebrations, collaborations, creative process, forthcoming books, Illustrators, Inspirations, Picture books

The story of Satin, part 2: creating the visual world

In this lovely post, Lorena writes about how she created the stunning visual world of the book.

When Sophie asked if I was interested in working on Satin with her, she had barely finished her sentence before I said yes! I love working with her, and the story sounded so beautiful and intriguing. I also immediately had wonderful visions of all that blue… And it perfectly combined two things I’d worked with before. Some of my earliest montage work included shards of willow pattern plates, and I had also been doing a lot of work with cyanotypes, an early photographic process that has the most glorious blue emulsion. And the fact that Satin gathers objects to create his beautiful thing is exactly how I work too! It was perfect.

These are the first sample images I made for Satin, which we sent as part of our book proposal to the wonderful Anna at MidnightSun. They remain essentially unchanged in the final book, though you maybe be able to spot a few differences in the versions of the first image. As you can see, they are built up with layers of photographic images: the buildings, the silhouetted foreground landscape and figure, the bird, distant trees and the full moon against the misty sky… The pair underneath are more painterly. The elements are still photographic, but they are layered over a rich wash of painted cyanotype, giving a textured deep blue.

And here they are in the book:

You’ll find many shards of blue china in Satin, many featuring the famous Willow pattern. Some of my earliest montage artworks were based around that same pattern. The images were made from shards of china I found in my backyard and the local landscape, and the landscapes themselves. Creating the illustrations for Satin felt like a delightful full-circle return to my early work. Here are three examples from around 2009.

The other slightly different element I’ve introduced to these illustrations, are splashes of painterly blue. The ‘paint’ is actually created with cyanotype chemistry, which is painted onto paper, and them exposed in the sun to create a rich blue. It’s wonderful cross between painting and photography, and lets you combine the two in wonderful ways. On this illustration spread, I’ve painted the splotches of blue, and digitally inserted the photographic elements.

I felt such an immediate affinity for Satin. He explores his surroundings, looking for interesting things, so that he can make something beautiful, which is exactly how I work, and Sophie’s extraordinarily beautiful prose made Satin such a pleasure to work on. I really hope you find inspiration and beauty in it too.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Authors, Book talk, forthcoming books, France, Paris

Super exciting news about a new novel!

I’ve had to sit on this super exciting news for ages, but now it’s been announced by the publisher, so I can announce it in my turn now!

In November 2023, my new novel for adults, The Paris Cooking School, will be published under my new pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, by wonderful Ultimo Press. It was acquired by them via my lovely agent Margaret Connolly, who has encouraged, supported and helped to inspire me every step of the way as I’ve been creating the novel. And it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience working with publisher Alex Craig and the Ultimo Press team, and I’m looking forward so much to the rest of the process!

This is a book that I have so loved writing, which has taken me in a new and exciting direction in terms of my writing, a delicious novel about love, hope, second chances–and food! And it’s also a love letter to the most beautiful city in the world.

Here below is the publisher’s announcement. I’ll be writing more about the book as the months go on, and starting a special page for it on this blog too, but in the meantime you can follow the Paris Cooking School on Facebook and/or Instagram, where I’ll be posting news, pics, bits and pieces.

The official announcement from Ultimo Press!

Oh la la, do we have a delicious novel on its way to you 🍓⁠

⁠It was impossible not to be enticed by The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont. It’s a treat for the soul – a delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart.⁠

⁠Sophie says, ‘I love Paris. It’s as simple as that. Steeped in history, yet fresh as morning bread, elegant as spun sugar yet earthy as onion tart, it’s a city of delicious contrasts and magical charm. It’s also a place of potential and possibility: the perfect setting for a story of second chances. And of course, there’s the food! I loved writing this book so much: and I hope readers love it too.’ ⁠

⁠Publisher Alex says, ‘The Paris Cooking School is a sheer delight, and I couldn’t be happier working with Sophie on a gorgeous novel set in a city she knows inside out. Following three women’s stories during a springtime in Paris, this novel is for anyone who dreams of the what-ifs and second acts, escaping to the City of Lights, and learning to cook the French way.’ ⁠


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Leave a comment Posted on Authors, Book talk, collaborations, forthcoming books, Illustrators, Picture books

So looking forward to Satin coming out!

I am so looking forward to the publication next year of Satin, my forthcoming picture book with the wonderful illustrator Lorena Carrington, to be published by MidnightSun Publishing in March 2023. I am really excited about this book, which came about in the most magical way (which I’ll write about in another post, later), and which I think is going to be just loved by both children and adults.

Here’s the gorgeous cover:

And here’s the blurb:

Every morning early, when no-one’s about, Satin slips out of the forest and walks along the sleepy sunrise streets, looking for blue…

He’s collected all kinds of blues, from all kinds of places. He’s making something beautiful, with all those blues. But something’s missing, and he doesn’t know what it is. And then, one day, he comes to a street he’s never been in before. And what he finds there will change his lonely life forever.

A beautiful, haunting fable by award-winning writer Sophie Masson and acclaimed illustrator Lorena Carrington.

Lorena’s exquisite, superb creation of Satin’s visual world is just stunning in its depth and beauty, conveying a mix of natural enchantment and human warmth which goes right to the heart of the story. (Below is a sneak peek at the first page spread)

I am so happy that Lorena is co-creator with me on this gorgeous book, and so happy too that it was taken on by such a wonderful publisher as Anna Solding of Midnight Sun.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Book talk, fantasy, forthcoming books, launches, retellings

Online launch of Magical Tales from French Camelot

Delighted to be celebrating the launch of Magical Tales from French Camelot, online (livestreamed via FB) this Sunday, the 21st August, at 5.30 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, 3.30 pm West Australian time. Lorena and I will be talking about the book with our publisher Karen McDermott of Serenity Press. Do consider joining us, we’d love to see you there! You can find all the details on the Serenity Press Facebook page, here.